When I first launched my business, I wanted sales, I wanted my business to be successful and I wanted it so badly. I had a list of prospects, a phone in my hand, and a plan. Make the calls. Set the meetings. Win the work.

The home office was set up. I sat their with my script and my best intentions. My chest tightened, my inner dialogue spiralled and I felt panicked. I couldn’t do it. I ran out out of the office and sat outside crying because in that moment I believed sales calls were the only way to succeed and I was too scared to make them.

I felt humiliated, I wanted to provide for myself, for my wife, I wanted to set ourselves up but I was stuck. I wanted the ground to swallow me.

That was the day I realised something important about fear. It is not logical. It does not care about your goals. It shows up to keep you “safe” and small. And if you let it, it will run your life.

Have you noticed how the thing you most need to do is often the thing you least want to do?

It is like the universe puts the biggest growth, the biggest rewards, behind the most uncomfortable door.

Make the call. Ask for the raise. Invest your first thousand into a global index fund!

I didn’t start brave. As a kid I would go bright red speaking to strangers. Hot face. Sweaty palms. Total shutdown.

I remember being at a Chinese restaurant with my dad. There was a piano player taking requests. Dad handed me tip money and told me to go ask for a song.

I could not do it. The more my dad tried to encourage / force me to do it the worse the social anxiety became. I hid under the table, mortified. I felt so small and so visible at the same time. That red face panic stayed with me for years.

Even now I get weird about making phone calls. I can put them off while my brain makes me think about how uncomfortable this is going to be!

The tool that consistently works for me is the three‑second rule. If I know the next right action, I give myself three seconds to start it before my brain talks me out of it.

Just do it before you can think!

Did you know that Katie and I started a band with our friend Finn? We called ourselves the Rebelutionaries and wrote an entire album called Money Revolution all about index funds, money and financial freedom.

Our new single “Discomfort” is not about pain for pain’s sake. It is about choosing the stretch activity, because everything you want is on the other side of discomfort. The chorus captures it:

Everything you want is outside your comfort zone,
Break the mould, dare to embrace the unknown.
Get excited to face your deepest fears,
The fear you embrace is your strength.

I wrote “Discomfort” because I wanted to scream to the world: do what makes you uncomfortable. That is where the magic is.

One of my biggest regrets? I did not approach the gorgeous girl I liked. I was too shy. I didn’t take the opportunity to speak at an event that was laid in front of me, I was too nervous. I did not make the calls when I started my business. The pain that caused me was huge.

Avoid my regret. Avoid the pain. Play the song. Take action. The universe will not make it easy, but it will make it worth it.

The first time you do anything it feels weird and uncomfortable. People use that feeling as proof it is not for them.

“I tried it once and it felt wrong.”

I want to scream “Of course it did. First times are awkward by design!”

The first time I spoke in public I was so nervous, sweaty and uncomfortable. I kept going. I joined Toastmasters. It gave me a safe place to practise and get feedback. Awkward turned into fun. Fear turned into skill.

1. Discomfort is information, not a stop sign. It points to where growth lives. It tells me where to go next.
2. Action shrinks fear. The three‑second rule turns mountains into hills. If you take action, most of the time you think afterwards “That wasn’t too bad!”
3. Reps change identity. With enough practice you become the kind of person who acts.

Tiny action today

Money Revolution — the world’s first financial independence music album. 21 tracks. Zero record labels. 100% rebel‑approved.

Songs about investing, compounding and breaking free from the rat race.

🎧 Stream the full album here:

1. Spotify 
2. Apple Music
3. Amazon Music